Hollywood Undead Bio, Life Story

An American rap rock band, Hollywood Undead were formed in 2005 after founders Jorel Decker (J-Dog) and Aron Erlichman (Deuce) picked the name from a song called "The Kids". J-Dog and Deuce then recruited "whoever was in the room and can play instruments"; Jeff Philips (Shady), George Ragan (Johnny 3 Tears), Jordon Terrell (Charlie Scene), Dylan Alvarez (Funny Man), and Matthew St. Claire (Da Kurlzz).

Like their formation, the first album was an instant work, taking only a year to get done. However, the young group had a difficulty landing a company that would not constrict their creativity. Their first label, MySpace Records tried to censor the album so they left and signed with A&M/Octone Records. "Swan Songs" was finally released in September 2008.

Although their first record, "Swan Songs" did pretty well on the chart, debuting at number 22 on the Hot 200 for selling 21,000 copies in the first week. It was followed by a CD/DVD set called "Desperate Measures" in 2009 which contained unreleased songs, remix, live recordings and the band's performances.

The line-up experienced its first change when the band's singer Deuce was voted out of the group and replaced by touring member and a friend, Daniel Murillo aka Danny. At that time, the band were preparing their sophomore effort and they found some musical differences with Deuce. With the new member, the second album was recorded in summer 2010 for a release in fall that year. But recordings were only finished in mid-November.

In the meantime, the band have hyped up the album before its release by taking part in Nightmare After Christmas Tour with Avenged Sevenfold and Stone Sour. The first single "Hear Me Now" was promoted during this tour. Upon its release on radio, AOL Radio blog branded the song as "great rock smash". It reached number 2 on the iTunes Rock Chart.

While release date was still unfixed, the band announced the album's title, which is "American Tragedy" and released a new song called "Comin' in Hot" for free download. J-Dog said he will continue to release "sample" music for free download until the album is released. After several delays, "American Tragedy" saw the light on April 5 in the United States. The set sold 70,000 copies in the first week, landing at number 4 on Hot 200 and number 2 on Rock Chart.